Pontoon Basic Strategy

Pontoon is a popular basic blackjack card game performed in Australia and Malaysia as a known variant of Spanish 21. The game has one of the lowest house edges and thus it's highly favorable to amateurs. The standard blackjack card game forms the basis of Pontoon - lends the game its basic notions, mechanisms and rules. Basic strategy Following is the basic strategy table for this game - details courtesy of the Wizard Of Odds pontoon page. The numbers 4, 3 and 2 along the top refer to the number of cards in the player's hand. For example, if you have a two-card soft 20 (A9) the correct play is to STAND. Pontoon is a splendid 21 game offered in some of the best online casinos. The object of the game is still to get closer to 21 than the dealer. In Pontoon both of the dealer's cards are dealt face down, so you are playing your hand blind. The really good thing about this game is that when you play this basic strategy the house advantage is only. The Pontoon card game strategy is a good deal different from basic Blackjack strategy due to all the different rules and variations. So we really recommend that you have a look at our Pontoon card game strategy chart below which pretty much sums up all you need to know in visual format! Click here for the Free Pontoon Strategy Chart Printable.

Pontoon is a blackjack variant that is only available at online casinos. It is distributed by RealTime Gaming. This online casino group accepts US players. Playtech and Betsoft also spread the game.

Microgaming has Pontoon, too. However, split aces only receive one card. To offset this, the dealer stands on soft 17. This version is less favorable to players, so we suggest playing at one of the other sites for this reason.

Pontoon uses a standard 52-card deck. Players are forced to hit any hand 14 and under. There is a separate value hand just below a blackjack which is called “pontoon” in this game. It is a five-card trick.

There are many strategy changes due to the unusual rules. Make sure to learn the basic strategy for Pontoon before playing. We go over it and the differences in Pontoon below.

Differences Between Pontoon and Traditional Blackjack

There are several differences between Pontoon and traditional blackjack.

A blackjack hand, called pontoon, pays 2-1. A two-card 21 after a split counts as a pontoon. A five-card hand that does not bust and wins has the same payout. The dealer can tie on these. The house wins all ties.

Both dealer hole cards are face down. This makes the strategy easy to learn, as you don’t have to take a dealer’s exposed card into account.

Players may double down at any time. However, an ace always counts as one when doubling. Players can hit after a double down and must if the hand is not 15 or higher. Split aces may be hit, doubled, and re-split.

The first step in playing Pontoon is choosing the denomination of chips that you would like to use. The next step is to click the betting circle until the wager equals what you want it to be.

After that, click deal, and you will receive two cards. You may bet up to three hands at the same time.

If the player has a pontoon, which is the same as a blackjack in a normal game, the hand ends. The dealer will then check to see if it also has it. If the player has it alone, the hand pays 2-1. If the dealer also has it, the house wins.

If the player or dealer do not have pontoon, the hand continues as normal. The dealer does not check for pontoon until the end of the hand.All bets made through the duration of the hand will lose if the dealer has pontoon.

If nobody has pontoon, players are given the following options.

• Hit
• Stand
• Double down
• Surrender
• Split (if dealt a pair)

As Pontoon is only spread at online casinos, each action the player has available has a button on the screen. Touch it or click it with your mouse to hit, stand, double down, and split.

Pontoon Basic Strategy

Hit is when a player would like to draw a card. You may hit until you bust or make a five-card hand.

Stand means the player does not want any more cards. This is not available until the player has 15, or has five cards.

Double down involves the player doubling the original bet and receiving one more card. A player with a pair has the option to split.

A player that makes a five-card hand without busting stands. The only way this hand loses is if the dealer also makes a five-card hand.

The dealer draws to hands up to 16 and soft 17. If the dealer has a hard 17 or any hand of 18 and higher, it stands. It also stops drawing if it makes five cards without busting. The house automatically wins here.

Once the player and dealer have completed the hand, they are compared to each other.

If the dealer has the same point total or higher than the player, the house wins all bets.

If the player makes a five-card hand and the dealer does not, or if the player’s hand is higher than the dealer’s hand, it wins.

After the hand, click the deal button for a new one. To leave, click the menu button on the table.

The strategy for Pontoon is substantially different from a traditional game of blackjack. One reason is that the dealer’s cards are placed face down. Another is the five-card trick paying 2-1. Players may not stand until the hand is at least 15.

A hard hand does not include an ace, or it has one and can bust.

• 4 through 7: Always hit
• 8: Hit on 2 or 3 cards; double down on 4
• 9: Hit on 2 cards; double down on 3 or 4
• 10 and 11: Always double down
• 12 through 14: Hit on 2 or 3 cards; double down on 4
• 15 and 16: Stand on 2 or 3 cards; double down on 4
• 17: Stand on 2 or 3 cards; double down on 4
• 18 and higher: Always stand

A soft hand includes an ace and cannot bust.

• Soft 13: Always hit
• Soft 14 through 18: Hit on 2 or 3 cards; double down on 4
• Soft 19 and 20: Stand on 2 cards; double down on 3 or 4

The only pairs that should be split are eights and aces.

Please refer to the chart below for a visual summary of Pontoon strategy.

Pontoon Basic Strategy Template

Pontoon is spread at most online casinos. RealTime Gaming, Playtech, Betsoft, and Microgaming all spread it.

This blackjack variant is not available at live casinos. The game by the same name in Australia is more like Spanish 21 and does not resemble this Pontoon at all.

For US players, we recommend RealTime Gaming casinos over Betsoft. It is a personal preference of software.

Players outside the US should head to Playtech casinos. The rules are more player-friendly than the ones at Microgaming.

Pontoon has a house edge of 0.38% at sites with the most generous rules. This makes it one of the better blackjack games at online casinos. It is often better than traditional games.

The strategy for Pontoon is easy to learn as there is no thought about the dealer’s door card as there is not one. We recommend playing it, especially if you need a change from traditional blackjack.

Introduction

Pontoon is sometimes said to be an early version of blackjack. Today Pontoon is offered by Real Time Gaming, Playtech, Microgaming, Betsoft, Galewind Software, Nucleus and Cryptologic Internet casinos. In Pontoon, any five-card hand or a pontoon (same thing as a blackjack) pay 2 to 1, including after splitting. However there is no dealer up card and the dealer wins on ties. There are several other rule changes from blackjack so read carefully before playing.

Australian Pontoon, which is what Americans call Spanish 21, is a completely separate game, and is addressed on my page on Australian Pontoon.

Rules

Following are the usual rules.

1. The game is played with eight 52-card decks, or two decks at Bovada.
2. All cards have the same value as in blackjack.
3. The ranking value of hands in pontoon is as follows:
   1. A pontoon, which is defined as an ace and any 10-point card, including after splitting
   2. A five-card trick, which is defined as any 5-card hand that has not busted. All five-card tricks are of the same value, the point total does not matter.
   3. A non-busted hand of 21 points of less with 4 or less cards. Hands will be ranked within this group according to the total number of points.
   4. A busted hand of 22 points or more.
4. The dealer will deal each player two cards face up and two cards face down to the dealer.
5. The dealer will peek at his cards for a pontoon. If the dealer has a pontoon he will immediately turn it over and collect all wagers and cards.
6. The player may stand on any total greater or equal to 15, or on any 5-card hand.
7. The player may hit at any point, including after doubling.
8. The player may double on 2 to 4 cards, but only once per hand. The option includes after splitting, and once for each split hand.
9. The player may split two cards of equal rank. The player may resplit once, up to a total of three hands, including aces. When the player splits the first card dealt to each hand shall be automatic.
10. Player may draw and double after splitting aces.
11. The 2-card 21 after splitting aces counts as a pontoon.
12. If the player busts he immediately loses and forfeits his cards and total wager.
13. After all players have played out their hands the dealer shall expose his two cards. Then the dealer shall continue to draw cards until he has a total of 17 points or more, except the dealer shall hit a soft 17. The dealer will also stop with any five-card hand.
14. The dealer shall compare his hand to each player hand. A winning player pontoon or five-card hand shall pay 2 to 1. All other player wins shall pay 1 to 1 (even money).
15. Ties lose.

How To Win At Pontoon

Strategy

The following tables show the basic strategy for Pontoon under RTG, Playtech, Galewind, Betsoft and Cryptologic rules. Betsoft does not state the number of decks used, but they use six in all their standard blackjack games.

To use the strategy look up the player's hand along the left and across the number of cards along the top. The top of the strategy is for hard totals and the bottom for soft hands. The player should always split eights. The player should split aces under the liberal ace splitting rules above, but not under the Microgaming rules, or hypothetically if an ace and 10 after splitting aces was not a pontoon.

The first chart is appropriate for Real Time Gaming, Playtech, Galewind Software, and Cryptologic rules.

The next table shows the strategy under Microgaming rules.

The house edge is 0.38% under the default rules listed above. These rules are followed by Real Time Gaming, Playtech, Galewind Software, and Cryptologic.

At Microgaming casinos the rules are the same except split aces get one card each and the dealer stands on soft 17, in which case the house edge is 0.39%.

Rule Variations

Following are some alternative rules and the effect on the house edge.

Pontoon Basic Strategy Definition

• Aces and 10 after splitting aces is 21 points (not a pontoon): House edge increased by 0.49%.
• No draw to split aces (split aces get one card each): House edge increased by 0.49%.
• Dealer stands on soft 17: House edge lowered by 0.47%.
• Two decks (as opposed to eight): House edge increased by 0.35%. That is not a mistake. In Pontoon the more the decks the lower the house edge. I believe this is because it is easier to make 5-card tricks with more decks.

It is not a coincidence that both restrictions on split aces increase the house edge by the same amount, because if either rule is in effect the player should hit a soft 12.

Playtech

Click on image for larger version

I would like to thank Microgaming and Yechezkel Zilber for their contributions to this analysis.

Pontoon Basic Strategy Builder